Stupid Cupid
by Darknightdestiny
Summary: [SephTi] Why was it that she always ended up with her foot in her mouth? Valentine's Day gift for Bleuwyn.


**Stupid Cupid**

_For Bleuwyn  
(and Congratulations on the Baby!)_

**(-Based on her AU Employee Relations fic-verse-)**

Tifa Lockhart sat idly at her desk, bouncing her leg upon her knee and clacking her pen against her teeth. Black, beady eyes stared back at her from fluffy white tufts, and her mouth turned up in a satisfied grin. She leaned forward and adjusted the rosy heart in the stuffed bear's hand before sinking back into her swiveling chair.

What a wonderful day for a pleasant surprise. And yet...

It had been nagging at her for the past two days, and things certainly weren't getting any better. Just who was her Secret Cupid?

Whoever it was seemed to know just the thing she needed. On Friday, she'd had a terrible sweet tooth. When Monday morning rolled around, there was a gift set of gourmet hot chocolate waiting for her on her desk when she'd come into work. If that hadn't made her want to slink back home to her bed and bury herself in the sheets, the soft plush sitting across from her did. Whoever it was knew what women _really_ wanted. Whoever it was, was a sweetheart.

Whoever it was had an impeccable sense of timing.

Tifa had kept a careful watch on her seat and on her things, but it hadn't helped that she'd been late both Monday and Tuesday morning. The first had been her fault, the second, Aeris's. Consequentially, she'd found both gifts set neatly on her desk when she'd arrived, and she hadn't a clue as to who had left them. Sneaky bastard.

All right, so this Secret Cupid of hers didn't have to be sneaky. She'd made things perfectly easy for them. Tifa made a mental note to be on time in the future.

She had been opposed to the whole idea from the beginning. Forced fraternization at work of the romantic kind? That was a no-brainer for anyone in Human Resources.

"But Tifa," Aeris had protested, "for some people here, that's all the fun they'll have."

_That's all I need_, she had thought. _Open the doors for harrassment claims and at the same time, give them a clever veil and an excuse to hide behind_.

But Aeris had persisted and argued that some of the people in the office actually looked forward to the exchange. Why not give them the chance to find that someone? Besides, tradition was tradition, and she didn't care if it was new and uncomfortable; Tifa would just have to get used to it, because it wasn't going anywhere.

They'd all drawn names out of a jar (which had proven to be a little difficult) earlier in the previous week. Tifa had gotten Gary, the receptionist, and Aeris had gotten Zack, over in accounting. Half the fun was not knowing, but Aeris and Tifa had a habit of making their own fun. At the end of the week, they could all choose to reveal themselves, or they could choose not to. But the tradition was (or so they'd told her), small gifts throughout the week, and the main surprise on Friday.

Since there was no guarantee that Tifa would ever find out who had picked her, she decided to take it upon herself to do just that. So far, she was doing a miserable job of it.

Then a thought struck her. No one would approach her desk with her gift unless they knew she wasn't going to be there. And since no one could have known that she would be late, then it must have been someone who was in the office before normal working hours. But no one person was required to be there early. Someone must have-

"Hmm."

Tifa looked up to see none other than Roth Crescent standing in front of her desk, holding her stuffed bear up for examination. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"And what do you think you're doing?"

"Now this is interesting," he mused, fingering the foil-wrapped chocolate heart and turning the bear over in his hands. "I wonder who would give you this?"

"Why do you care?"

He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow at the thing, as if it would answer for him. "I'm curious."

"Why?" she persisted.

A half-smile leaked out. "Only nice people get cuddly, frilly gifts."

"Well," she said flippantly, standing up and yanking it out of his hands, "good thing it's not for you, then. Why are you over here anyway?"

Roth turned away, but not before she could see the amused grin he wore. "Just passing through."

He departed casually from her desk, taking his irritating grin with him, and leaving her to wonder how in the hell he managed to get under her skin like that.

♥

"So, what did you get me?"

"Excuse me?"

"For Valentine's Day. Seeing as we're carpool buddies and all."

Tifa just decided to ignore Roth, who had sidled up next to her in line at the cafeteria. No witty, winning reply on the tip of her tongue, so it was best just to not say anything at all, rather than put her foot in her mouth. It was at this moment that he decided to reach across her, to swipe at an apple.

"Well _that_ was rude," she said, backing out of his way and quietly adding, "and I'm not getting you jack-shit." Not like he'd even been riding with them that week. Something about gift-giving and anonymity or some such bullshit.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said, you should back up a bit."

"Ah." He gave a slap-dash glance behind himself, where he was clearly blocked in, and returned with an even bigger grin. "Sorry. So, what did you get me?"

"A lump of coal," she proudly announced.

"Well that's a shame," he said. "And, wrong holiday."

Tifa shrugged it off like it didn't matter.

"...I got _you_ a paddle."

She whipped around to face him, eyes bulging and a blush creeping from her chest to her face. "...You-!"

Indeed, Roth looked very pleased with himself.

Tifa swallowed and slowly rebuilt her composure. "You do remember which department I work for, don't you?"

"Human Resources, I could never forget that. No one can, what with you reminding us all the time. Honestly, you could use a good spanking. Gets the blood flowing, and your ass is as tight as they come."

Did he just call her a tight-ass? She stared him down, fighting to control the rush of blood in her ears along with the urge to slap that silly smile off of his face. He merely blinked back at her, ignoring her narrow, fiery eyes. After a good ten seconds of failed intimidation, Tifa turned her attention to her tray, perfunctorily arranging her plasticware in a pathetic effort to shake him from her mind.

"Would you mind advancing?"

She blinked. "What?"

Roth gestured with his eyes toward the line ahead of her, which had begun to move without her notice. She did move on, grateful for new territory and possible excuses to distract herself, but not without shooting him a dirty look first. He didn't seem much fazed by this.

"Fettucini," she clipped, still mulling over that paddle comment when she reached the hot side of the line. Gods, but she was rusty, and he was always two steps ahead of her. How embarrassing. Yes, this was somehow all his fault.

She was anticipating more painful, heated exchanges with him, but to her dismay he took his chicken sandwich to go and ducked out of the room as soon as he'd paid for it. Tifa felt an odd mixture of relief and disappointment. How was it that he always managed to engage her in his ridiculous banter, and then leave her feeling like a fool? The bastard.

♥

The beautiful, smiling, idiot bastard.

When Tifa returned to her desk after lunch, Aeris was already there, fingering the lacy ribbon on a neat little package.

"You weren't at lunch," Tifa said.

"Hubby. What's this?" Aeris grinned. "Smells great."

Tifa took the small box from her, examining the soaps and bath salts visible through the plastic window behind the ribbon. "They do. I could smell it when I walked over here." She took a closer whiff from the box, closing her eyes and revelling in the crisp scent of peppermint and juniper. "Refreshing," she grinned.

"Whoever this woman is, she clearly doesn't know you at all."

Tifa and Aeris both turned their heads toward the copier machine nearby, against which Roth was leaning. Tifa narrowed her eyes at him. "Who says it's a woman?"

Roth walked over and plucked the box from her hands, turning it over and examining it in the same fashion he had the bear. "Please. Men don't buy these sorts of things unless a woman tells them to."

Tifa balled her hands into tight little fists. The man was so frustrating! Just waltzing in and out of her life at the most inopportune moments. "Gods, don't you work around here anymore? When do you find all this time to bother me?" She forcefully yanked the gift from his grip. "And stop grabbing my junk!"

Roth raised an eyebrow at that last request and did nothing to hide the smirk growing on his face. He didn't even blush. Was he _proud_? The office was suddenly very quiet, save for the sound of Aeris' hand clamping over her own mouth and the muffled laughter that escaped around the edges. Well, at least she could say she'd made the effort.

"Oh, gods..." Tifa pinched the bridge of her nose, suddenly very aware of her blunder. She didn't have time to catch the smug, amused look on Roth's face as he sauntered away.

♥

Friday morning, Tifa was late yet again. Aeris was on time, but Tifa had forgotten Gary's gift, so they'd had to turn around. She blamed it on Roth. He'd been bugging her so often lately, he'd completely destroyed her rhythm. She twisted her ankle while slipping on her pumps at the door. She blamed that on Roth, too.

Thanks to Aeris' blatant disregard for traffic safety, they had made it to work only seven minutes too late. They still managed to sneak their presents onto the table undetected, as the party hadn't gotten underway quite yet. It was the first thing on the agenda, however, and as soon as everyone had gotten their coffee and whatnots and settled down, they made their way over to the table, and the papershredding commenced.

Tifa hung back for a moment, none too eager to fight the rush of people. It turned out she hadn't needed to; a minute later, Aeris was making her way over to her, one package in her hand, and a large one underneath her arm.

"This one," she said, turning her entire body to the side so that Tifa could relieve her of the burden, "is for you."

Tifa took the larger present in both hands. Who the hell sent a Valentine's gift that size, and what could it possibly be? A wall-hanging, perhaps? It felt like a wall-hanging, but that was just plain silly. Who gives a wall-hanging for Valentine's Day? Curious to see what was inside, she began to tear away at the paper.

"_So, Roth, how do you play this game?" Aeris asked, pointing to the circular board on the wall._

"_Darts? Ah-" He set down his drink on a nearby table, preparing to give an explanation._

"_It can't be that hard," interrupted Tifa. "You throw the pointy thing at the circle thingy."_

"_Lovely. Darts reduced to pointies and thingies," he frowned. "It's a little more complicated than that."_

"_How so?" Tifa asked, hands on her hips._

"_Depends on the type of dart game you're playing."_

"_Which still involves throwing this," she held up a dart, "at that," and pointed at the board._

_For a moment, Roth looked like he wanted to throw something at her as well, but the expression vanished as quickly as it came. "I suppose if you were that simple-minded, you would think that."_

"What in the-?"

Aeris blinked, before the giggling began.

"_I have to stay behind the line, right?"_

"_Yes, but you can lean a little if it's easier for you…"_

"_I don't need to lean," she bit out and lobbed the first dart toward the board. "Oops. How many points do you get if it lands close?"_

_Roth laughed. In fact, he was laughing so hard, he had to turn away to regain his composure. Tifa's irritation for him grew as she watched his shoulders shake and listened to him repeat her words mockingly. He turned back around, still chuckling. "I hope you're not serious."_

Tifa stared at the offending gift in her hands in shock before her eyebrows drew into a tight frown. "A dart board? He got me a fucking dart board! What the hell!"

Aeris was in a fit of laughter. "Oh, poor Tifa! It's okay... I'll play with you!"

"It's not funny," Tifa growled.

"Yes it is!"

_Clunk!_

Oh, look. A ping-pong paddle.

Angry eyes searched the room for the giver of said present. He was found leaning against the wall by the water-cooler, a crisp, new dress shirt slung over his shoulder and his eyes dancing with mirth. And then he ducked inside the kitchen.

Tifa stalked toward her desk, Aeris hot on her heels.

"Hey," Aeris said as Tifa propped the giant board against her cubicle wall and slammed the paddle down on her desk, "you don't look too amused."

"Nope," Tifa clipped.

"Uh...what are you going to do?"

Tifa stalked past Aeris, pushing her sleeves up as she went. "I'm going to give that stupid jerk a piece of my mind."

"Oh dear," Aeris murmured to herself, following Tifa into the lounge.

Roth was standing next to the microwave in the far corner of the room, stirring some creamer into a mug when Tifa stormed in.

"Just who the hell do you think you are?"

Roth didn't turn around to answer the question, but she didn't have to see him to know what expression his face wore. "Why, I'm your Secret Cupid. Surprise!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho," she drawled. "You are so not funny. And I owe you an ass-whupping. Let's go. Right now." She pointed animatedly at the floor, gesturing for him to make his way over to her and accept his punishment like a man.

_He knows you won't hit him. Oh, Tifa, he's going to make you look like a fool..._

He turned to set his coffee on the table in the center of the room, the opposite side of which she was standing. "I'm not going to fight a woman."

Tifa set both hands square on the table and leaned across, smiling darkly at him. "No one said you had to. I said I owed you an ass-whupping."

Her brain _told_ her mouth to shut up, but it had a mind of its own, apparently.

Roth responded in kind, leaning in to return her icy glare. "Clearly, you cannot take a joke."

"Oh, just let it go, you two."

Tifa froze at the voice behind her, before she bowed her head and fisted her hands against the table. _Way to save the day, Aeris_. Only she couldn't back down now. She would look like...well, a fool.

"Hello, Aeris," Roth said, tilting his head to look past Tifa. His easy smile returned, and his shoulders relaxed, though his stance did not change. For some inexplicable reason, this made Tifa want to deck his pretty face. "Is that your gift there?"

Aeris looked down at the book clutched against her chest. She hadn't realized exactly how tightly she'd been clutching it until then. Oh, the excitement! "Yeah," she grinned. "It's a journal, diary-type thingy. Vintage post-cards on the front. Nice, huh? It's from Zack. Would you imagine that? We had each others' names! Though I'm not sure how he could have known I was wanting one of those." Aeris leaned against the doorframe, chuckling. "Thanks, Tifa."

Tifa rolled her eyes, still unmoving from her spot hunched over the table.

"So you _can_ be nice," Roth said, his attention back to Tifa and his eyebrows raised in mock surprise.

"Yes, yes, now she can keep her squishy thoughts to herself." Tifa waved her hand dismissively. "Now-"

"Now you two should kiss and make up."

This did have the effect Aeris was hoping for, as Tifa suddenly whipped around to stare her down. "What did you say?"

"Oh for crying out loud, Tifa! It's Valentine's Day! It's not like this is even serious at all. And it's obvious you both want to."

"I DO NOT WANT TO KISS HIM!!" Tifa exploded, a bit louder than even she had expected. And it was a _lie_, though she'd never, ever admit it. She wondered if it was really that obvious, or if Aeris was just bluffing.

Roth hadn't said anything so far, but Tifa's eyes became tiny slits when she heard the deep chuckle from behind her.

"Just kiss him," Aeris said. "This can be your gift to me. You can't possibly stay mad after that. Now make up!"

Tifa turned on her heel to stare at Roth. "I don't see anything funny here."

Roth skirted the table, advancing on her as she held her ground, her chin raised defiantly in the air. "What would you do if I did kiss you?"

"I could sue you," she threatened, pulling a page from the proverbial handbook for workplace behavior.

"And would you?"

"Maybe."

Roth chuckled again. "Would you like lessons?"

"_Excuse_ me?"

"Darts, Tifa. Do you need your hearing checked? You seem to be having problems lately."

She jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "Giving me a dart board was a cheap shot, and you know it."

He shot her a look of feigned innocence along with his sarcastic reply. "Oh, but I so enjoy my time with you, I just needed an excuse to spend even more hanging around your pleasantry."

"That's it!"

Tifa lunged at him, hands out. She didn't know what she was doing; she'd hardly had time to form any coherent plans between the moment the spark went off behind her eyes and the moment she was to make contact with his chest. Maybe she intended to shove him. Either way, her wrists ended up in his unyielding grip.

"How unbecoming of a lady," he tsked.

"And you're the perfect picture of a gentleman?" she challenged, looking up at him.

He leaned down, inches away from her mouth. "I can be, Tifa. I can be." His breath was warm in the space between their faces, a dizzying contrast to the chill air in the building despite the cheap heating system.

_Stop, stop, stop fucking with me! You're just so cruel..._

He was so close, and while she hated him (yes, that must have been the reason her arms had gone slack), there were better ways to work out frustration than fisticuffs. She took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea how many rules you've just broken?"

He stepped closer to her, and she could feel her forearms propped up against his well-muscled chest, so warm through his clothing. "You nearly caused quite the accident yourself there, Miss Lockhart."

His sudden tone of formality coupled with the position they were in stung her, but she had been the one to start in with corporate policy. And she _had_ tried to shove him. Or something. Bastard. And Aeris; she _would_ be there every step of the way. Because men didn't buy things like that unless women told them to. That little...

"She's gone, you know."

It took Tifa a moment to register that she and Roth were alone in the room, that his mouth was still hanging inches away from her own, and that his grip had also loosened. And she'd been staring at his face, thinking about how she hated it when he called her 'Miss' _anything_, for almost an entire minute. No wonder Aeris had assumed it was a done deal.

"So she is."

Tifa shoved him away and stormed out of the room.

♥

_"Well, I hope you got this message. Something came up and I had to duck out early, but I'm sure Roth could give you a ride home! Guess I'll see you later? Okay, then. Bye."_

Tifa wanted to scream. Suddenly relieved and yet incredibly, terribly pissed off that she'd decided to check her messages before leaving for the day, she stalked off towards the parking lot. Gods, she was going to kill Aeris. She obviously had no idea what had happened in the break room, and she obviously didn't know when enough was enough. Had she no idea how serious this was?

Now she was going to have to humble herself before Roth's IT glory and hope that he would still let her into his car. And that would be no easy feat.

"Heard you needed a ride."

Tifa stopped dead around the corner when she saw Roth's car running and waiting. He was standing by the passenger door, leaning against the waxy hood, looking very smug. She crossed her arms tightly.

"This makes you happy, I bet." _Shut up_, she told herself. Unless, of course, she wanted to end up stranded. Yeah, he'd do that, she was willing to bet.

"I have to admit, it does," he said, very matter-of-factly. "Get in."

She frowned at his back as he opened the door for her, rounded the front of the car and slid into the driver's seat. So now he had the book over her. Just great. The perfect ending to a perfect week. And he'd built her up with all those sweet things Aeris had put him up to. Fucker.

Tifa climbed into the passenger seat of his sports utility vehicle, not failing to notice the crumpled wrapping paper in the backseat and the discarded pairs of socks and the nerdy little stationery set. Ha! No wonder the ruse came so easily. He had no problem ruining someone else's gift exchange because whoever had pulled _his_ name out of that jar had no imagination at all. Then again, they did know how to do it up right with that deep blue dress shirt. He'd look good in that. Yes...

Dammit. The jerk. She sat stewing in silence as he pulled out of the parking lot, pointedly ignoring the mental image she had of kissing him in the lounge in that stupid, stupid shirt. She was furious with him! Why couldn't he just get out of her head?

"Did you enjoy the party?"

Oh, right. That's why. "Where do you get off?" she finally exploded. "I mean, seriously. Because I would like to know."

"So that's a no?" he asked, brows raised in innocent question.

"Oh my gods!" she cried, exasperated, throwing her hands up. "Do you really hate me that much? Do you have some kind of vendetta against me? I really must know. Is tormenting me really that great of a kick? Because you've been on a real bender this week." She turned to him, hard stare trained steadily on his face. "Why, Roth? Why do you do it?"

"Hmm."

"Answer me, you bastard!"

Suddenly and without warning, Roth swerved off the road and into the nearest gas station. He shut off the car and turned to face her, leveling her with a stare that left her wondering if she'd pushed too far. He didn't flinch as he looked her dead in the eye and began to count off his reasons.

"Do you ever give yourself a break?"

She blinked at him. What?

"It must be nice to have a monopoly on misery."

Was this his idea of an apology?

Roth sighed and leaned against the wheel, while Tifa nearly choked on the silence as she waited for him to explain his words. "You can't even take a joke, you're so uptight." He gestured helplessly with his hands. "Do you like being this cold and anal? Always on the defensive? Are you really that insecure? Because I'm trying really hard here, and you've been nothing but _godsdamned mean_."

Awful, awful words. And completely unfair. She'd been trying hard too, only she was just so terrible at it! Did he even see it? No, of course not, because she'd been doing everything in her power to hide it. She didn't want to look pathetic, didn't want to be another one of those stupid women who threw themselves at him. Maybe she'd been trying too hard. Maybe...he wasn't even talking about that at all. Had she even been pleasant?

"I bet you're not even taking any of this into consideration. You're too busy trying to come up with a smartassed reply."

She was. Maybe he was right. Tifa swallowed the lump in her throat and ignored the hotness behind her eyes. "I guess I've met my match, then."

His expression softened and he sat back in his chair. "See? Someone has to take you down a peg."

"So I'm a terrible person."

"No," he huffed. "Just oblivious."

"You went to all that trouble for this?" she asked, feeling a familiar reflex in her throat. "Gee, thanks. I didn't realize it was so important to you."

"You need to loosen up."

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Tifa nearly fell out of the car as she opened the door. She leaned against the monstrous vehicle with one hand while she tried vainly to gather her hair with the other as she began dry-heaving over the pavement. She barely registered the slam of Roth's door, and was more than a little surprised to feel his hands brushing against the back of her neck as he pulled her heavy tresses out of her face and the strands gave way to the chill air.

"Don't-"

"It's okay," he said, rubbing her back as her hacking cut her off.

When it was all over, she was breathing heavily and her hands were shaking along with the ringing in her ears and the pockets of air that didn't seem to want to leave her throat. "Well, I think you've knocked me down enough pegs for one day," she breathed, still not sure how he had gotten that idea. She didn't think she was anything special. Oh wait, that proved his other point, that she was insecure.

She didn't expect him to pull her into his arms and rest his chin atop her head. "Feel better?"

"No," she bit out. Even now, he was jerking her around! Now she was going to have to ride home with him, and after that display. At least she hadn't actually thrown anything up. "I feel terrible. Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

He sighed. "Someone has to build you back up."

"So you get to tear me down _and _build me up. Great. Why do you get to be my someone?"

He blinked, but said nothing as a smile grew on his face.

His silence was disconcerting to Tifa. "You're so cruel. And unusual. Master Mindfuck, that's what I'm going to call you from now on. Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

"I know." He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "And there are worse names. It's good to see that, through it all, you've retained your sense of humor."

"Bite me."

So he did. Bent right down and nipped her on the jaw.

"Ahp!" she yelped, jumping away from him and rubbing the spot on her neck. "What the hell!"

"I can be funny, too."

"You're incorrigible! Oh, and evil. Don't forget evil." She was fuming at him by this point.

"Yes, of course," he said grinning, leaning back up against the car. "Would you like dinner?"

She looked at him incredulously. "I'm sorry--what did you say?"

"I have tickets to a comedy club, incidentally. I was going to give yours to you earlier, but I hadn't anticipated your raining hellfire on me. Your real gift," he explained. "I thought we could do dinner first."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. "I thought I was a terrible person."

"Who could use a good laugh."

"I hate you."

"No you don't. And I never said you were a terrible person. I called you uptight and insecure."

"Don't forget cold," she added wryly. "Oh, and anal."

"Well, that's never going to change."

"Why would you want to spend time with me, then?"

He smiled. "You're different from the other women I know. I like that."

"You mean the nice, easy-going, bright and enthusiastic women who love on everybody? That's not your thing, huh? You prefer abrasive and mean. You get off on it. I knew you were a pervert. And thanks for the paddle."

"I meant," he sighed, "that you're confident and think for yourself. Even if it is hurried, grasping, unnatural brain-vomit," he added, ignoring the pointed glare she gave him. "That's not a bad thing at all. And you're welcome."

She shifted her weight to one foot and adjusted her arms. "So you're saying you like that, but you're offering me a personality makeover for the rest. How sweet. And here I didn't get you anything."

"You could start with that kiss you owe me from before," he couldn't help but point out.

"I wasn't going to kiss you."

He grinned. "Are you sure?"

"Besides, you haven't wined and dined me yet."

"That's tomorrow night," he mused, pretending not to notice the way she'd diverted the conversation. "I think you'll like it. Stand-up comedians tend to be rather dark and cynical. It should be right up your alley."

"I'll shove something up your alley," she muttered.

"Is that a promise?"

"Pervert."

"So no kiss, hmm?" he said, turning back to re-enter the car.

"Why, as a thank-you for fixing me?"

"As a thank-you for dinner, and for not leaving your ass at work to freeze."

She hefted herself up next to him and shut the door. "You'll get a thank-you for dinner, after dinner."

His eyebrows shot up. "So we're on, then?"

Tifa leaned back in her seat and let out a loud sigh. "Sure, why not. Things couldn't possibly get any worse after what just happened out there."

"And there it is. Do you ever stop feeling sorry for yourself?"

"Can we go now, ass-clown?"

♥

"I'll see you at seven o'clock tomorrow night. Wear something nice."

"As opposed to every other day?" she asked, half-way out of the car.

"You know what I meant," Roth frowned. "Is it going to be a fight with you every step of the way?"

"Who knows?" she shrugged, mimicking his easy air. "We've only just started."

Roth sat back, an amused expression settling over his face. "Started what?"

Tifa blinked, then frowned. "Whatever. I don't have time for your stupid games. I'll see you tomorrow."

She was nearly out of the car when he grabbed her by the arm and brought her around to face him. "There's still the matter of my kiss."

"I told you-"

"For the ride?"

"I thought we were carpool buddies," she mocked.

"Hmm," was his reply, as he leaned in.

She leaned back away from him, but soon found there was no more room in the car, unless she wanted to end up on her ass outside. When his mouth finally came to rest against hers, it took her a good several seconds to register the shock that he had actually done that to her. Or at least that was her excuse, she thought, as she pushed him back.

"What the hell do you-"

Wait a minute. That hadn't been all that bad. And the logical part of her brain stepped up for the first time that afternoon and told her that if she cursed him out, it probably wouldn't happen again.

"Yes?" he asked.

She blinked. "...Do you think we could try that again?"

"Without dinner? Dear gods, Tifa-"

"Shut up," she said, leaning back into his mouth, despite her urge to think of a retort. Distracting him was just as good, and much better than thinking, or fighting with him for that matter, which was just so incredibly draining, the stubborn jerk. And after the day they'd had, she figured they both deserved a break, despite the fact that it would no doubt lead to more trouble down the line.

Or at least that was her excuse.

Now, if only his mouth was around every time she needed to indulge in a snappy comeback, he might just break her of the habit.

**End**

_Final Fantasy VII and its characters © 1997 Square-Enix Co., Ltd._

* * *

**_Note: _** I hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday season. This little giftfic was for dear Sandra, a requested Christmas spin-off for her very awesome SephTi, Employee Relations. 'Twas a Secret Santa theme, but I was late, so now it's Secret Cupid. The flashbacks in this short are samples of text from chapter two of her story, and some of you might recognize a couple references to Motchi's Impressions. I did have them kiss, so you might consider this an AU to her AU, whatever that means. She didn't exactly throw out any rules, and I assumed she wanted it to be somewhat conclusive, so...there it is.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!


End file.
